Berlin lands in London for a week-long pop-up Lab of innovation, technology and arts inviting the UK to experience the beating heart of the German capital

Berlin is a special city, a genuine champion of creative, cultural and technological freedom. It is widely known to be one of the most cutting edge cities in Europe. London is widely recognised as the tech start-up hub of Europe. This is why Berlin Partner, the marketing organisation for the city, has chosen London as a perfect place to exchange ideas and inspire new ones in a week long ‘pop-up Lab’ in Soho from 21st to 26th November. It is the second time that Berlin is coming to London with a pop-up format. In 2015 they were already in Shoreditch for one week.

The Lab is designed to be a place for the experimentation of ideas and the exchange of thinking; an exclusive event space where Berlin’s unique mix of technology, creativity and innovation comes alive. People will be invited to meet Myon the friendly humanoid robot, experience a ‘molecular kitchen’ and be absorbed in Berlin-style music and stunning 360 photography. The experience is interactive with opportunities to take part and get involved in the various installations.

Dr Stefan Franzke CEO Berlin Partner says: “At the pop-up Lab you can experience Berlin with light, colour and sound without leaving London. We wanted to show the residents, the startups and the creative businesses of London just what Berlin can offer. We have so much innovation, creativity and development happening thanks to our diverse culture and cutting edge technology, we want to bring that to London to exchange ideas with like-minded people.”

UK startup MBJ CEO & Founder Julian M Baladurage says: “We set up our office in Berlin in October and have found it to be a fantastic place to develop our business. It really is the beating heart of technology, creativity and new thinking and this is what we need at MBJ where we are constantly innovating. The pop-up Lab is a perfect way for UK entrepreneurs to see what’s going on in Berlin and to get inspiration from successful startups.”

Berlin founders are also interested in a market entry in the UK – such as blogfoster, a startup that brings advertisers together with bloggers and influencers. "We are currently planning to enter the UK market. Great Britain is the largest market for online advertising in Europe and of particular interest to us", said Simon Staib, founder of blogfoster. Berlin Partner supports the company at its market entry.

Startup meets GrownupAt the heart of the pop-up Lab is an interactive exhibition, which has already been highly popular in other major cities. Known as “Startup meets Grownup” fifteen established Berlin companies (grownups) and seven innovation driven startups show how sustainable concepts can be born from ideas. Concepts such as industry drones of the future are presented by BarDrones (in cooperation with the innovative light manufacturer OSRAM) the drones can be used to inspect parts of a building that are otherwise very difficult to access. Teufel will be on hand to demonstrate the immersive sounds of Berlin music in collaboration with Basslet. The Basslet is a wearable subwoofer for your body, created by the Berlin startup Lofelt. In combination with the high quality headphones of Teufel, the Berlin-based audio manufacturers, they deliver the beats and basslines of music directly to the body.

Tech Breakfast Accelerator PitchBerlin is a hotbed of incubator and accelerator funding, with some of the most successful companies in Germany helping to transform a variety of startups. This will be brought to London in a special one off Tech Breakfast Accelerator pitch where four well-known German companies (accelerator programs of Axel Springer, Bayer, Deutsche Bahn and Metro) will pitch to UK startup businesses. This will give UK businesses an insight into the Berlin tech scene and meet the teams from well-established Berlin accelerators.

Focus on musicThe Berlin startup‘s Nagual Sounds new creation „Nagual Dance“ offers users the ability to create individual and unique music pieces just from their movement. They achieve this by assigning specific sound elements or instruments to the arms and legs. The user can combine these sounds in endless variations, and what they create from this is totally up to them but is sure to be a unique musical experience.

Focus on foodThe Science Kitchen will be a highlight of the week featuring science inspired creations. It is a Berlin based food lab where science meets haute cuisine in form of molecular kitchen. They re-invent food in all it's facets: experiences, packaging, branding, design and taste. Also one of Berlin Master Chiefs, Florian Glauert, will cook during an exclusive pop-up Dinner.

Focus on artEyeEm is a Berlin based startup that offers a global community and marketplace for real photo-graphy. Through EyeEm’s photo missions, market and global exhibitions, the community showcases their work to brands and individuals. Within the pop-up Lab they will show the winners of a Ber-lin/London Mission – the best city moments that have been captures of these two great cities.

The pop-up Lab will run from 21st November to 26th November at 15 Bateman Street, London W1D 3AQ.

Pop into BerlinWith pop into Berlin, the be Berlin Capital Campaign and visitBerlin have been going on a tour together since 2015 to show the Berlin way of life. In 2015 the capital marketers presented selected products of more than 20 creative labels and start-ups in the pop-up stores for one week in Stockholm, Vienna, London, Amsterdam and Paris. The selected brands represented the great diversity of the German capital: from design to lifestyle and technology, including five startups from Berlin. But - typical Berlin - the concept has been enhanced: this year, the Pop into Berlin motto will have three formats: the pop-up stores, the pop-up clubs and the pop-up lab.